Emma's Management of Harriet's Affairs in Jane Austen's Emma
In this novel, Jane Austen uses the relationship between Emma and
Harriet to highlight the important issues. She uses Emma's management
of Harriet to do this. She creates contrast between Emma and Harriet,
she portrays Emma as beautiful and intelligent though we can still see
faults in her personality. The main fault is her desire to control
people and matchmake them. This also raises issues, including the
position of women and Emma's social status, marriage and comedy which
is shown through irony, especially in the relationship between Emma
and Harriet.
The first thing we read is 'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and
rich'. By beginning the novel with this quote, we can see the
qualities considered important at that time and how Emma has a high
social status. When we first hear of Harriet, we can see a contrast
between the two characters. 'Harriet was the natural daughter of
somebody. Somebody had placed her several years back at Mrs Goddard's
school.' We see that Harriet is an orphan which automatically
contrasts with Emma's strong family history. The way Austen says
'natural daughter of somebody' suggests her unimportance and lack of
family history which was considered important in Austen's time. Also,
the way the word 'placed' is used makes her seem like an inanimate
object. The reader sees from the beginning that these two characters
are extremely different and therefore not a natural friendship. This
raises the theme of social class.
Another main theme in the novel is marriage. Emma's attitude to this
reveals Austen's thoughts. In Austen's time, marriage was ba...
... middle of paper ...
...In this quote we see how Emma is analysing and
planning to make Harriet her next project.
Austen expresses her views on women and marriage. There is a key quote
in the novel which I feel expresses Austen's feelings - 'Never mind,
Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid, and it is poverty only which
makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman, with
a very narrow income, must b a ridiculous, disagreeable, old maid! The
proper sport of boys and girls; but a single woman, of good fortune,
is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as anybody
else. And the distinction is not quite so much against the candour and
common sense of the world as appears at first.' Here Austen is saying
how stereotypical society was at that time, she is raising what she
feels were the key issues of her time.
A woman holds her newborn for the first time in the clean warmth of a hospital, another tucks her toddler in for a nap, gently stroking their forehead, and yet another mother is leaving for her job. These are common occurances for women of today, yet 200 years ago this was far from the normality that woman faced, especially women trapped in slavery. In Harriet Jacob 's book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the horrors of her slave life are brought to life, shedding light on how far the ideology surrounding women have come. We still see traditional values expected of women in today 's world expressed in various forms, but the freedom to chose has spread. The reality for slave women
In the earliest part of Harriet?s life the whole idea of slavery was foreign to her. As all little girls she was born with a mind that only told her place in the world was that of a little girl. She had no capacity to understand the hardships that she inherited. She explains how her, ?heart was as free from care as that of any free-born white child.?(Jacobs p. 7) She explains this blissful ignorance by not understanding that she was condemned at birth to a life of the worst kind oppression. Even at six when she first became familiar with the realization that people regarded her as a slave, Harriet could not conceptualize the weight of what this meant. She say?s that her circumstances as slave girl were unusua...
In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “ is a search for justice.” In Earnest J. Gaines novel Mrs. Emma, the godmother of Jefferson a black man convicted of murder in a crime he unwittingly took a part in, response to Jefferson’s conviction and death sentence by working outside of the legal system to find his redemption. In her own way she used the connections she had to make him see that he was more than a crime that he had committed, and more than the color of his skin. She was a motor throughout the story silently pushing people to do what she needed them to so that she could show others in the community she loved their own potential through Jefferson’s final moments, by making him accept that
Motherhood, in its simplest definition is the state of being a mother; however, it isn't as clear cut and emotionless as the definition implies. Motherhood holds a different meaning for everyone. For some it is a positive experience, for others it's negative. Different situations change motherhood and the family unit. Slavery is an institution that twists those ideas into something hardly recognizable. The Master and the Mistress are parental figures. Slaves never became adults; they are called boy or girl no matter what their age. They are forced into a situation where biological parents have no say over their children. The slave owners control the slaves' lives and destroy the traditional idea of motherhood and family. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl deals with the issues of being a woman in slavery. The mothers throughout the narrative are powerless in keeping their children from harm. They watch as their children are hurt or sold and can't do anything about it. The mothers use everything in their power to protect their children and succeed in their motherly duty.
Mothers in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility "I can no more forget it, than a mother can forget her suckling child". Jane Austen wrote these words about her novel, Sense and Sensibility, in a letter to her sister Cassandra in 1811. Such a maternal feeling in Austen is interesting to note, particularly because any reader of hers is well aware of a lack of mothers in her novels. Frequently we encounter heroines and other major characters whom, if not motherless, have mothers who are deficient in maturity, showing affection, and/or common sense. Specifically, I would like to look at Sense and Sensibility, which, according to Ros Ballaster's introduction to the novel, "is full of, indeed over-crowded with, mothers" (vii).
The housekeeper greats her with condescension by suggesting that “my lady is very good-natured; for she knows that people come with their books as a genteel sort of begging, and she generally pays them handsomely for their trouble” (Robinson 230). Martha is not taken seriously and is offered money for her suffering instead of for her artistic ability.
Jane Austen’s novel, Emma, can be construed as a novel about games; the characters that love to play them and their pitfalls. The importance of games in Emma may not be as intelligible when first reading the novel, like games, their role may appear trivial. On the contrary, scenes in which the characters take part in various games and riddles are some of the more didactic scenes in the text. It is often the case that there is a game played by the characters, within the game or riddle presented in the scene. In Emma, Austen uses games, both physical and mental, as vehicles to expose the flaws and subtext of characters, as well as a means to drive the plot in this dialogue heavy tale. Furthermore, through analysis of the scenes involving Mr. Elton’s riddle, the word game at Donwell Abbey and the conundrum at Box Hill, it can be argued the games and riddles are representative of the mental games played by the characters.
Jane Fairfax plays a significant role as a rival towards Emma in terms of intelligence and beauty in the novel Emma by Jane Austen. Jane Fairfax is born to Mrs. Bates youngest daughter and Lieut. Fairfax. Jane’s father Lieut. Fairfax died and Jane was left with a widow mother who also died when Jane was three years old. After the death of Jane’s parents, Jane was took care by Colonel Campbell who was a good friend to Mr. Fairfax where Mr. Campbell believed that Mr. Fairfax has saved his life (p.128). Jane was loved by Mrs. and Miss Bates but if she lived with them, she would have had limited opportunities through her education and her social level. From Campbells kindness Jane was educated at high standards in London by Campbells support taught by the first-rate masters. However, because Campbells could not financially support Jane forever as their fortune belonged to their daughter and from Miss Campbell’s marriage with Mr. Dixon, Jane finally comes back to Highbury where her relatives Mrs. and Miss Bates live. Jane is a character in the book Emma as an only character who could be contrasted to Emma through many natures. This essay will discuss the role of Jane Fairfax through issues such as Jane and Emma’s relationship, Jane’s relationship with Mrs. Elton in contrast to Emma’s relationship with Harriet Smith, Jane’s love relationship with Mr. Frank Churchill and discuss why Jane is the conventional heroine where Emma is not.
In the novel, Emma, Austen introduced her audience to a new idea of patriarchy. While she is known to satirize society for the “faulty education of female children, limited expectations for girls and women, and the perils of the marriage market” (“Austen, Jane”). Austen expresses the irony of the men of her patriarchal society and proposes the ideal gentleman in Mr. Knightley. In Emma, Austen moves away from “a traditional idea of 'natural' male supremacy towards a 'modern' notion of gender equity” (Marsh). Jane Austen is a revolutionary in the way she transforms the idea of Nineteenth Century patriarchy by not “reinforcing the traditional gender stereotypes” (Rosenbury) but instead challenging the status quo. While her characters still hold some ties to traditional ideals, Austen proves to be ahead of her time, influencing the way gender is regarded today.
While she was still young, Harriet’s family moved from Hartford, Connecticut to Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time, Cincinnati was a battleground for pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces, as well as being a city of religious revivalism, temperance conflicts, and race riots. Her father was a congregationalist minister and her oldest sister, Catherine, was a writer on social reform questions. It is not surprising, therefore, that because of her environment, Harriet became involved in movements emphasizing the moral injustice of slavery.
To be a mentor is to hold influence over a person’s actions or education. Overall, “Emma” is a novel about the influence that people hold over each other, and how that influence can affect people. Conflict is built by different characters who view themselves as mentors struggling to assert their opinions over others and pupil characters who accept their mentor’s opinions without bothering to form their own.
In Jane Austen’s social class and coming of age novel, Emma, the relationships between irony, insight and education are based upon the premise of the character of Emma Woodhouse herself. The persona of Emma is portrayed through her ironic and naive tone as she is perceived as a character that seems to know everything, which brings out the comedic disparities of ironies within the narrative. Emma is seen as a little fish in a larger pond, a subject of manipulating people in order to reflect her own perceptions and judgments. Her education is her moral recognition to love outside her own sheltered fancies and her understandings of her society as a whole.
In eighteenth century which feminist in social status was not popular by that time, author can only through literature to express her thought and discontented about society. Jane Austen’s Emma advocates a concept about the equality of men and women. Also satirizes women would depend on marriage in exchange to make a living or money in that era. By the effect of society bourgeois, Emma has little self-arrogant. She is a middle class that everyone could admire, “Young, pretty, rich and clever”, she has whatever she needs. She disdains to have friends with lower levels. However, she is soon reach satisfaction with matchmaking for her friend. Story characterizes a distorted society images and the superiority of higher class status. It brought out the importance of class divided over that time. Story Emma is female bildungsroman. In this thesis will explore the essentials of old society, feminism and the fear of marriage and how main character’s spiritual growth to transform distorted ethic on social value and value of marriage.
Jane Austen’s works are characterized by their classic portrayals of love among the gentry of England. Most of Austen’s novels use the lens of romance in order to provide social commentary through both realism and irony. Austen’s first published bookThe central conflicts in both of Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Persuasion are founded on the structure of class systems and the ensuing societal differences between the gentry and the proletariat. Although Emma and Persuasion were written only a year apart, Austen’s treatment of social class systems differs greatly between the two novels, thus allowing us to trace the development of her beliefs regarding the gentry and their role in society through the analysis of Austen’s differing treatment of class systems in the Emma and Persuasion. The society depicted in Emma is based on a far more rigid social structure than that of the naval society of Persuasion, which Austen embodies through her strikingly different female protagonists, Emma Woodhouse and Anne Eliot, and their respective conflicts. In her final novel, Persuasion, Austen explores the emerging idea of a meritocracy through her portrayal of the male protagonist, Captain Wentworth. The evolution from a traditional aristocracy-based society in Emma to that of a contemporary meritocracy-based society in Persuasion embodies Austen’s own development and illustrates her subversion of almost all the social attitudes and institutions that were central to her initial novels.
J.K. Rowling once said “Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It meets a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts that is something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized by fools,” and this really resonates with me as my family has always struggled with money. It was this state of poverty that has stayed with me my whole life and defined who I am today.